Now that it is 2019 and websites are becoming more and more advanced, they now include numerous features ranging from APIs to different styles and many more! Your business website is your portfolio if you like. It's the first place customers will go to, to find out about your products and services. They can find information about where you are, what you do, how long you've been established and many more. Keeping your website in 2019 is pivotal, to ensure that customers first impressions are a good one. If a customer sees a cluttered and poorly presented website, they might think it's unreliable, unofficial, poor quality and then this will reflect on your services and products.

In this blog we will go through our top four reasons why you should plan to upgrade your website in 2019.

Security

Security is one of the most important things to consider when putting your business on the internet. With all the amounts of attacks and exploits if your website isn't set up correctly, it could result in massive consequences. Especially if you're dealing with customer data. We hear too often that large companies are getting hacked, customer data is being compromised. This leads to a lack of trust and also hurts business to the point where they image can be extremely damaged. Clients will more than likely choose to go to competitors in the result of a massive security breach.

One of the main reasons that websites get hacked is because of the vulnerability in the framework and platform on which their website is built. If a developer hasn't considered all the backdoors, in which hackers can have access to, then that website will be at risk from a attack. If you haven't already, read our blog on keeping your website secure. You'll be able to understand what needs to be done to protect yourself, from the dangers of the internet. It requires, constant updating, password validations, using HTTPS and many more.

Fresh content

If your website is one that seems to be slowly fading away in the background then it will be a good idea to inject some fresh content into it. Whether your website has been running for a long time, or it's just recently been put up, it good practice to keep your website fresh and attractive to customers. Keeping your content up to date builds trust between you and your customers. Most likely customers will look to your website, for up to date information on whatever industry you are in. You also don't want to be displaying incorrect information.

In terms of marketing, up to date information helps build domain authority. Domain authority ranks your level of authority on a certain subject. Lets say for example techopedia.com, it ranks very highly as one of the domain authorities out there. This is because the information provided on the website, is up to date, well researched and edited constantly to make sure everything is at a professional level. You will also find there isn't any unrelated or abundance of useless ads. Google's algorithms will provide websites to matching criteria depending on how high they rank. So getting on the good side of Google is a good idea.

Have you ever been on a website where you've read something and thought "that's not quite right" or "that doesn't make sense at all". This are indicators of a bad website, the fact that you're questioning it. Which of course brings down the credibility of that website because I'm sure you're not the only one thinking that.

Web design matters

Your may have a website that presents great content that is reliable, well researched and well informed. However, this without an updated design could look unappealing, cluttered and unprofessional. Unfortunately, too many businesses focus only on content and internet marketing, but fail to address the design and navigation of their website. A website that's visually pleasing, easy to navigate, and bundled in with the content will always lead to happier customers. 

Mobile friendly

Having a mobile friendly design, allows mobile users to get to the web at whatever point the need and allows your website to be more available. Nearly everyone now in 2019 has a smartphone, allowing users to surf the web when they aren't able to access there PC or Laptop. Having a website that is not mobile friendly, will result in guests to relinquish from and search for another. This is why so many websites are now created with responsive designs, to be made available at any time, with any device. 

Having a responsive design means that when the website is perused from a phone or tablet, it changes from a even design to a vertical configuration, bringing on a different display of content and pictures. It will change the website to fit the screen of the device utilized, contracting pictures and content sizes rather than keeping a constant structure. This will improve the users experience by providing a less demanding method for navigating the website.

Google also identifies if a website is mobile friendly and favors them when displaying search results. This plays a massive part in the marketing of your business and increasing your customers. 

Looking to update/upgrade your website?

We offer bespoke and upgrades on previous/outdated websites. If you're interested please don't hesitate to contact us using nowthen@steelstudios.co.uk or call on 08712374432. We can discuss further and build to meet your needs!